Battery powered vacuum cleaners are known. Such vacuum cleaners are often powered by a battery pack comprising a plurality of rechargeable battery cells. The battery pack is often disposed in a handle, or other locations, of the vacuum cleaner. Because of the location of the battery pack, disassembly of the vacuum cleaner is often required to remove the battery pack from the vacuum cleaner, either to replace a failed or failing battery pack with a new battery pack, or to dispose of the battery pack separately from the vacuum cleaner in a more environmentally friendly manner. Such disassembly may make removal of the battery pack difficult.